Bottom for sheet-heating furnaces.



No. 698,|48. v 'Patn'cedAprl 22, 1902. P. F. SMITH.

BOTTOM FOB SHEET HEATING FUR-HACES.

(Application med Jan. 2a, 1902.)

l (No Model.)

" @i sgg@ @ie-fria@ aan@ @Je UNITED STATES AfrnNr OFFICE.

PERSIFER, r..s.M1TH, yor PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

SPECIFICATION forming/part of Letters Patent No. 698,148, dated April 22, `1 902.

` .ippiietionfuea January 26.11902. serai No. 91,542. (remodel.) I 5 To @ZZ whom `t 10m/y concern.- i f.; Be it known that- 1, PE'RSIFER. F. SMITH, a

kresident 4of Pittsburg, in the county of Allegheny and State of` Pennsylvania', have in- Vented anew andusefullmprovement in Bottoms for Sheet-Heating Furnaces; and I do hereby declare the following'tobe a full,clear,

and exact description thereof. I

l x My invention relates to sheet-heating:four-` naces, its object being toA provide'l'aA bottomV f for such furnaces Vwhich shall vbe .clean andl free from small particles ofl hard matter liable to 'o enter between the sheets of the pack and mar the same or the rolls and shall also be more easily removed from and replacedin` the furnace-chamber. v o n The bottom for sheetfheatiug furnaces most l largely employed consists of a mass of broken pieces ofvcinder, brick, or, liken oncombnsti ble material which is spread over the furnace-y floor and provides a bottom having interstitial passages and presenting abroken and uneven surface, as set forthin Letters Patent No. 408,475 granted to Francis and Banfield August 6, 1889, this bottom having the ad-v 'vantages'that while it was non-combustible it would itself store the heat of ythefurnace and prevent the heat from passingthrough the -interstitial passagesv and so provide for the'.

moreA even heating of the packs, that it yovercame patching in thepack fromthe sulfur contained in the coke previously usedforv such" bottoms, that the"dust-could"V settle down Within the mass, and the bottom'could' beremoved from timetotime forcle aning.'= The main diflicultieswiththis brokenicinder orV brick bottom have been that smalll particles 0f the cinder or brick were liable to break oli? Y and enter between the sheets of the .pack and spoil the rolls or spoil the sheets in their passage through the rolls and that if the brick here thereto.. i

higher portions of such balls permitting the .'passageof the heated gases through the in.-

terstices formedybetween them and the contactof the'same with the packs andthe supporting-balls having no angular portions to break o and enter betweenthe sheets or adhere to thepsheets and. be carried into the rolls, while they can be more easily removed and-:cleaned or separated from the dust` carried into the heating-chamber from the firechamber, a cleaner and betterybottom being 'so provided.

To enable others skilled in the art Vto em-l y ploy my invention, I willdescribe the same' morel fully, referring to the accompanying drawings,'in which` vFigure l is alongitudinal section of a sheetheating furnace having a bottom embodying the invention. Fig. 2` is a cross-section, and Figs. 3 and 4are enlarged views of portions of bottoms, showing two, forms of ,globularv `'bodies suitable for the samef The drawings showv an ordinary sheet-heat'- ing furnace 1,having the fire-chamber sheetheating chamb'er, iues 4, stack 5, and Working door 6 and slide 7, over which the packs are run out and drawn from the furnace.y The'. l 1

heating-chamber has the 'loori,` on which the non-combustiblebottom'9,issupported. This bottom 9 is composedof1 a loosejmassof hardburned @my banser1ikeg1obtuar-bodiesto a f depth of about flve'to'teninches.'Y VThe balls are usuallyabout two inchesin diameter, and .Y Y

the uppersurfaces form a series of highspots approximately egg-shaped bodies.v InFig.` 3

I have illustrated what have vbeen termed' potatoes 1l, being baked-.clay bodies,-obf

long ill fOI'm, Which have been usedsu'ccess.,l fully forthe purpose.v ThevbaHS-aregespg Y o I, 95y if;

cially burned to produce hard surfaces vnot SQ n il# liable to flake off and enterbetween the sheets.k l. In the use of the invention the flame and heat from the nre-chamber circulate Within .o the sheet-heating chamber, heating the bans o.

composing the furnace-bottom. The packs are fed to the furnace and manipulated in the ordinarywaythereimbeing'turned up against the side Walls and again turned down onto the bottom, as necessary for heatin g the pack throughout. In such feeding and manipulation the packs when they strike the balls slide over the curved globular sides of the same, and as there are no small broken pieces of hard matter to pass between the sheets of the packs or adhere to their outer surfaces the main difficulties heretofore formed with broken-ci nder or brick bottoms are overcome, While interstitial passages for the circulation of the gases are provided, so that the bottom may be maintained at a substantially uniform heat and the substantially uniform heating of the packs be Obtained. Any dust from the {irecliamber or from other sources can settle down between the balls, and the balls can be more easily removed and more easily cleaned.

Vihat I claim as my invention, and desire to sec-ure by Letters Patent, is"- A bottom forsheet-heating furnaces formed of a loose mass of hard-burned non-combustible balls or approximately globular bodies, providing interstitial passages and a support for the packs upon the higher portions of the balls, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I, the said PERSIFER F. SMITH, have hereunto set my hand.

PERSIFER F. SMITH. lVitnesses:

JAMES I. KAY, Ronin D. To'r'iEN. 

